Antarctic scientists warned Wednesday that a surge in tourists
visiting the frozen continent was threatening its fragile environment
and called for better protection.
Tourist numbers have exploded
from less than 5,000 in 1990 to about 40,000 a year, according to
industry figures, and most people go to the fragmented ice-free areas
that make up less than one percent of Antarctica.
A growing number
of research facilities are also being built, along with associated
roads, fuel depots and runways, in the tiny ice-free zones.
It is
these areas which contain most of the continent's wildlife and plants,
yet they are among the planet's least-protected, said a study led by the
Australian government-funded National Environmental Research Programme
(NERP) and the Australian Antarctic Division.
"Many people think
that Antarctica is well protected from threats to its biodiversity
because it's isolated and no one lives there," said Justine Shaw from
the NERP in the study published in the journal PLoS Biology.
"However, we show that there are threats to Antarctic biodiversity.
"Most of Antarctica is covered in ice, with less than one percent permanently ice-free," she added.
"Only
1.5 percent of this ice-free area belongs to Antarctic Specially
Protected Areas under the Antarctic Treaty System, yet ice-free land is
where the majority of biodiversity occurs."
Five of the distinct
ice-free eco-regions have no protection at all while all 55 of the
continent's protected areas are close to sites of human activity.
Steven
Chown, from Monash University's School of Biological Sciences, another
collaborator in the study, said the ice-free areas contain very simple
ecosystems due to Antarctica's low species diversity.
This makes
its native wildlife and plants extremely vulnerable to invasion by
outside species, which can be introduced by human activity.
"Antarctica has been invaded by plants and animals, mostly grasses and insects, from other continents," he said.
"The very real current and future threats from invasions are typically located close to protected areas.
"Such
threats to protected areas from invasive species have been demonstrated
elsewhere in the world, and we find that Antarctica is, unfortunately,
no exception."
The study said the current level of protection was
"inadequate by any measure" with Shaw saying more was needed to guard
against the threat posed by the booming tourism industry.
"(We
need) to protect a diverse suite of native insects, plants and seabirds,
many of which occur nowhere else in the world," she said.
"We
also need to ensure that Antarctic protected areas are not going to be
impacted by human activities, such as pollution, trampling or invasive
species."
Antarctica is considered one of the last frontiers for adventurous travellers.
Most
travel by sea, some paying in excess of US$20,000 for a luxury cabin in
the peak period from November to March. There is also a healthy market
for sightseeing flights.
Story Source:
http://www.newsdaily.com
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